Cole 1
M. Cole
Mrs. Smith
ENG2D1
6 November 2009
MLA Essay:
A Template for Student Use
This template will assist students when writing essays following the MLA format.
All margins have been formatted according to guidelines founding Fit To Print. To use
the template, highlight the text and replace with your information. All pages should be
numbered. The author information and the title of the essay is placed in the top left hand
corner of the first page.
Indent paragraphs 1.3 cm. or 5 spaces. Short quotations
(four lines or less) are enclosed in quotation marks: “Edison clearly sets up a conflict
between the intellectual, sometimes unfeeling, and the emotional, but not necessarily
bright”(55).
Quotations that are longer than four lines should be indented a further 1.3 cm. or 5 spaces
on the left-hand side. Do not enclose them in quotation marks. The following in an
example:
This hierarchy is epistemic. That is to say, there is a reductionism according to
which the principles of sciences higher up in the hierarchy, may be deduced from
those lower. As we shall see, scientific argument is demonstrative (deductive) and
is couched in terms of cause and effect. Cause and effect themselves operate only
through motion. These are the most general principles of Hobbes's philosophy.
Thus the foundation of science is to be found in the most universal treatment of
the simplest bodies of which others are composed. This foundational science is,
according to Hobbes, geometry. (75)
The essay should be typed using an easy to read font such as Times New Roman,
Courier, or Arial. It should be typed in 12 pt. font size. To check the layout of the essay
before printing, go to File: Print Preview.
Cole 2
Works Cited
Cooper, Kenneth S. “Renaissance.” The New Book of Knowledge. Deluxe Library
Edition. Ed. Virginia Quinn McCarthy. 21 vols. 2004. Print.
Galbraith, Don, ed. Understanding Da Vinci. Toronto: John Wiley & Sons,1989. Print.
“Getting Warmer.” U.S. News and World Report. 13 Jan. 2003:2. EBSCO. Web.
3 Sept. 2006.
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: Modern Language
Association of America, 2009. Print.
Good News Bible. Today’s English Version, 2nd ed. Toronto: Canadian Bible Society,
1994. Print.
Lawrence, Mike. The Complete DIY Manual. London: Anness, 1999. Print.
Nardo, Don, ed. The Great Depression. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Print.